Loneliness In The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

A Very Lonely Road

48% of people in the United Kingdom confirmed that their loneliness made them feel left out of society according to a poll recorded by Matt Chorley, a Mail Online editor. Losing a friend, making a switch from middle school to high school, and a traumatic childhood experience can all be factors in determining whether or not someone is socially acceptable or not, and Charlie himself faces all of these. In the bildungsroman novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, the protagonist faces his freshman year alone while discovering his true self. The novel's structure, constant allusions, and symbolism is reflected towards its main societal issue. Chbosky illustrates that the effects of alienation takes a negative toll on the average teenagers social life.

Alienation is noticed from the very first page of the novel, as its structure is an epistolary. No one knows who Charlie is writing to, only the fact that he or she listens. “I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand,” (Chbosky 3) Obviously, Charlie knows that he has no one, and decides to write to someone he has never met. He longs for affection, he longs for acceptance, and he longs for someone to understand and listen. Nevertheless, every chapter starts with the date

The author uses many different cases of literary techniques, including the epistolary structure, famous allusions, and the symbolization of tunnels. In an ideal world, everyone would be optimistic, outgoing, and live an astounding life. Kids would be friends with their whole elementary school, high schoolers would stop talking down upon other people, it would be a simpler life. For now, that is not the case, there are still arguments, there are still people walking the lonely road. People need to understand that sometimes, they need love and support